The Other Angle
by Kasigi Omi
Summary: Erestor and Glorfindel both love Elrond, but he does not state his own preference. SLASH


The Other Angle  
  
"...And twenty four barrels of wine."  
  
"That is the trade deal they seek to make with us?"  
  
"Aye, my Lord. That is it."  
  
"It seems very reasonable to me."  
  
"Indeed, it is most reasonable, my Lord."  
  
"Then we are in agreement?"  
  
"It would appear to be so."  
  
"Excellent." Elrond turned from the window where he had been gazing out at the night sky, and crossed the room to stand beside his advisor. Grasping the quill Erestor offered to him, he signed his name at the bottom of the treaty with a flourish, then set the quill aside and watched as Erestor deftly sanded the signature.  
  
"Is there anything else that requires my attention tonight, Advisor?"  
  
Brushing the sand aside and sealing the document with the seal of the Lord of Imladris, Erestor shook his head, and then glanced up at his lord obliquely. "Only myself, if you are interested, my Lord."  
  
A slow smile crossed the face of the Half-Elf and he placed his hand on Erestor's shoulder, massaging gently. "I think I could indeed take an interest in that."  
  
Before Erestor could reply, the door burst open and Glorfindel strode in in all of his glory. His hair was windswept, and his tunic was mostly undone, held together with only one clasp just above his navel, leaving most of his torso open to perusal. He nodded a greeting to Erestor, before turning his attention to Elrond. "My Lord, be you done for the night?"  
  
Erestor smiled slyly to himself as Elrond shook his head. "I have other plans for this evening, my friend," he informed Glorfindel.  
  
The golden haired Elf nodded and glanced briefly at Erestor, inclining his head slightly in acknowledgment of defeat for the evening. "Very well. I shall hope to catch you another time."  
  
"I'm sure you will," Elrond replied wryly before stepping towards the door. Erestor stood quickly and followed.  
  
"He's mine tomorrow night," Glorfindel hissed to his friend as he passed.  
  
"We shall see," Erestor replied.  
  
~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~  
  
Two nights later, Erestor was seeking Elrond to make some last minute arrangements for the delegation from Lorien when he entered his friends study and found the dark haired Lord and Glorfindel sitting very close at the desk, talking quietly and laughing occasionally.  
  
His arrival caused them both to look up at him questioningly. "My Lord, I am just checking to make sure that we have all of the sleeping arrangements worked out for the arrivals tomorrow."  
  
Elrond nodded. "It has all been finalized, my friend. You may retire with your mind at peace for the night."  
  
Accepting this as the dismissal it was, Erestor bowed slightly. "Thank you, my Lord."  
  
He did not miss the small, triumphant smirk Glorfindel gave him as he turned to leave.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"He certainly seems to be enjoying himself tonight," Glorfindel remarked, approaching Erestor.  
  
The advisor had been lingering on the edges of the gathering, observing the interactions of the Lorien and Imladris elves. "He does indeed."  
  
"It looks like he is getting along nicely with that young marchwarden."  
  
"I cannot refute that."  
  
"Jealous?"  
  
"Insanely. And you?"  
  
"But of course. You know the only one I can stand to lose him to is you, Erestor."  
  
"And I can accept it when he beds you rather than me, Glorfindel."  
  
"So we have a mutual respect then, do we not?"  
  
"It would appear so."  
  
The two exchanged a long look, and then shared identical smirks. "Then, since we are both abandoned, perhaps we should make the best of the situation," Glorfindel suggested.  
  
"There is not much else for us to do," Erestor replied, arching one fine dark eyebrow at his companion.  
  
"My rooms or yours?"  
  
"I don't care to think what unsanitary things are carried on in your rooms, so I would suggest we use mine."  
  
"That suits me perfectly."  
  
And the two slipped out of the crowd and made for Erestor's chambers.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Several hours later the two elves were lounging indolently on Erestor's bed. Glorfindel was running a comb through his hair and Erestor watched him quietly. "We have an amusing little triangle, do we not?" Erestor remarked at last.  
  
Glorfindel chuckled and nodded. "We do indeed. You and I are constantly vying to be his bedmate, yet if he finds another we turn to each other instead."  
  
Erestor propped himself up on an elbow and reached out with his other arm to pull Glorfindel close for a gentle kiss. "Yes, it is really something. I am your back up lover as you are mine, but at least we do not lie to each other about it. And you do know that I love you dearly as well, my friend."  
  
"As I love you, Erestor," Glorfindel assured him, touching his cheek tenderly.  
  
"Just not as much as you love him."  
  
"Nor as much as you love him."  
  
Erestor laughed then. "What sorry fools we are! In love with one who loves us both dearly, but equally. I fear neither of us shall ever hold sole dominion over his heart."  
  
"That is his way. Perhaps it is better this way. If he decided to forsake me and spend all of his nights with you, I would go mad with grief."  
  
"He probably knows this, on some level and therefore is careful not to favor one of us over the other. He knows the problems it could cause. Though honestly, I think that he has no favorite."  
  
"Mmmm," Glorfindel agreed lazily, lust creeping back into his eyes as he watched the moonlight shine on Erestor's bare chest and dark hair.  
  
The advisor noticed the heavy look and smiled devilishly. "Just do not call me by his name, my friend," he warned. Glorfindel laughed and shoved him back onto the pillows.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"The wine has arrived!" Glorfindel announced merrily, barging into the library where Elrond and Erestor were going over some old scrolls. Tucked under one arm was a bottle of wine, and the other hand carried three wine glasses.  
  
The two dark haired elves exchanged meaningful looks. "We were about done with this for the night anyway, were we not, Erestor?"  
  
"Indeed we were, my Lord."  
  
Glorfindel grinned as he saw the other two going along with his plans. Hopefully they would turn out as he had hoped, but if not they would at the least have a pleasant evening with some good wine. "Excellent. Where shall we retire with this most wonderful wine?"  
  
"Am I correct in suspecting that you have already sampled the vintage?" Erestor inquired with no little amount of amusement.  
  
"Let us just say that I feel that I can safely label this some of the finest wine to pass this way, and leave it at that." In truth, Glorfindel had imbibed almost an entire bottle himself, which is what had given him his sneaky idea in the first place.  
  
"I gathered as much." Erestor stood and placed the scrolls back on their shelf before joining Glorfindel and Elrond at the door.  
  
"What do you two think about an evening by the fireplace in my chambers?" Elrond queried, giving Glorfindel an appraising look that implied to the other elf that his lord had a fairly good idea of his plans for the evening and approved, but then he was not surprised. It was Erestor that might prove more difficult.  
  
"That is perfectly acceptable to me, my Lord," Erestor agreed, stepping out the door, before turning in the doorway and winking deliberately at Glorfindel. Perhaps he would not be so difficult to coax after all.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The three sweaty and exhausted elves fell to the bed in a heap, panting and sighing with contentment.  
  
Once he had sufficiently caught his breath, Erestor chuckled dryly. "I had always known that such things happened, but I must confess I had never once considered how it could be done."  
  
Running a careless hand up and down Elrond's bare chest, Glorfindel grinned at his friend. "Then I hope this was most educational for you."  
  
"It was indeed."  
  
"Then perhaps we should attempt to repeat our actions and make sure he did indeed learn from this," Elrond suggested, smiling wickedly.  
  
"A test? Is he not a bit old for such things, my lord?"  
  
"One is never too old to have their knowledge and understanding tested, Glorfindel," Erestor explained before kissing Elrond deeply.  
  
"I'm very glad to hear that."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The three spent the night indulging in each other, pretending that things were perfectly fine and stable as they were, yet knowing that this triangle could not go on forever. And both Erestor and Glorfindel suspected that they would have to settle for each other and give up their ephemeral hopes to capture the heart of their much loved lord, but that was all far in the future and had no bearing on that night. 


End file.
